Australian Open 2026 final: Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina set for explosive women’s final

“Sabalenka has a bit more firepower which can force Rybakina into some areas she doesn’t want to be in – but there isn’t much in it,” said 1987 Wimbledon champion and BBC Radio 5 live analyst Pat Cash.

“It’ll be interesting to see how they handle each other’s pace.”

Sabalenka has reached her seventh consecutive final at a hard-court major, becoming only third woman in the Open era to achieve that feat after Steffi Graf and Martina Hingis.

Sabalenka has also contested the Australian Open final in each of the past four years and her consistency in reaching the latter stages at Grand Slams is unparalleled among the current crop.

Yet there remains a feeling that Sabalenka has not converted as many of those runs into major trophies as she should have, given her dominance on the WTA Tour.

“I would say that last year was lots of lessons, lots of things to learn about myself, and definitely not gonna happen again this season,” said Sabalenka, who lost in the Australian Open and French Open finals in 2025.

“It’s a different mentality that I will try to have in each final that I play.

“My mentality is I’m ready to go out there, fight with what I have and do everything I can.”